QUIRKS: The title literally means “Vengeance Is Mine”. The main character is deaf & mute, which makes the actor’s job somewhat unique.

VISUALS: I did not find this as visually striking or polished as the later 2 movies in the trilogy. However, Chan-wook Park is an excellent director, and there is much to appreciate in the cinematography of this film.

MORALS: The morals in this movie are very straightforward. Unlike Oldboy — which leaves you puzzling as to why everything is being done — it’s pretty straightforward as to why everyone is doing what they are doing.

BAD STUFF: Unfortunately, we did not catch on that there were 2 female characters until one of them was dead. It’s harder to tell Asians apart if you’re white — science has shown people can most easily distinguish among their own race — but really, the difference in hair length should have given it away. Somehow we both missed it. Carolyn would have realized it earlier and told me, but in one scene she thought the short-haired girl [the girlfriend] was a boy! It is unfortunate that such a small cultural barrier — actors from a different race — could affect our experience in such a confusing way… But this has happened many times with us and Asian cinema. Even anime. It’s a small price to pay for refreshingly different cinema.

I also have this problem with war movies. Even with Americans, if you cut all their hair and put them in the same uniform, I don’t know who is who, multiple characters become one character, nobody has a name, etc. etc.

Now, unrelated to our own viewing mistakes, this movie is a bit confusing at times. Like most of the Vengeance Trilogy. There isn’t much (if any) exposition, so you have to figure out what is happening yourself. It’s not always easy.

[…] PEOPLE: A Korean movie. The first movie directed by Sung-ho Kim, who also wrote it. Starring Ji-tae Yu, who was Woo-jin Lee in Oldboy, had a bit part in Sympathy For Lady Vengeance. Ju-bong Gi was also in Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance. […]